Gareth Bale has taken the decision to retire from both club and international football at the age of 33.
The Welshman is much younger than the average retiring age but his career began to drift when he struggled to make the expected impact at Real Madrid after leaving Tottenham Hotspur in then world record fee of £85.6m.
Despite individual form and a poor relationship with the fans and the Spanish press, Bale still managed to win a number of major trophies.
He won LaLiga Santander three times and the Champions League an incredible five times, making him one of the most decorated British players in history.
He has been the talisman of the Welsh national team in recent years and helped them reach the quarter-finals of EURO 2016 and guided them to only their second-ever World Cup appearance at the 2022 Qatar World Cup.
In a statement posted on Twitter about retiring from both club and international football, Bale said: “From my very first touch at Southampton to my last with LAFC and everything in between, shaped a club career that I have an immense pride and gratitude for.
“Playing for and captaining my country 111 times has truly been a dream come true. To show my gratitude to all of those that have played their part along this journey, feels like an impossibility.
“I feel indebted to many people for helping to change my life and shape my career in a way I couldn’t have ever dreamed of when I first started out at 9 years old.”
